A long time passed.
Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes.
A platinum-gold Soul Ring circled him, shining brilliantly!
"A God-Level Soul Ring," Xiao Yan murmured.
The Ice Dragon King had sacrificed himself to become his Soul Ring.
Now, Xiao Yan was astonished to discover that his Soul Power had reached an astounding level twenty.
And that wasn't the limit!
Because of the Soul Ring restriction, Xiao Yan could no longer tell exactly what level he had reached.
"Have you finished absorbing it!?"
A clear voice rang out.
Xiao Huo wiped away her tears and forced a smile.
She looked around. The surroundings had long since been reduced to ruins, and the Ice Dragon King was nowhere to be seen.
"Was that a god from the legends!?" Xiao Yan asked, though he had already guessed the answer.
Xiao Huo nodded and said softly, "A First-Level God, once one of the Nine Great Dragon Kings."
"The Ice Dragon King!"
Xiao Yan sucked in a breath.
The legendary Ice Dragon King
had actually sacrificed himself for him!?
"He just said that everything he did seemed to be for you." Xiao Yan recalled the words of the imposing middle-aged man.
The way he looked at Xiao Huo changed at once.
The one who could make the Ice Dragon King give so much was
Xiao Huo.
The Fire Dragon King!?
Xiao Huo's expression was complicated. She nodded slightly, but ultimately shook her head.
"That seemed to be who I once was... a past I want to cast aside."
"Now, I'm just Xiao Huo!"
Her gaze suddenly grew heavy, and she said in a low voice, "On the Douluo Continent, only humans can become gods. I want to see you ascend to godhood before I settle accounts with someone!"
"Xiao Yan!"
Xiao Huo radiated the presence of a ruler as she stared at Xiao Yan.
"Do you dare absorb my Heavenly Flame!?"
"The flame of the former Fire Dragon King!"
Gulp.
Xiao Yan swallowed.
Although he had already guessed, he still found it hard to hide his astonishment when he heard Xiao Huo admit it herself.
The Heavenly Flame born at the bottom of the Fire Yang Spring
had once been the Fire Dragon King!?
That had been a god!
"Ordinarily, you would never be able to withstand her flame, even though her strength is no longer what it once was."
Yao Lao explained, "But the Ice Dragon King has paved a great road for you."
"A road that will let you absorb a god's flame!"
"The Flame Mantra will store Xiao Huo's excess divine power in the Soul Ring where the Ice Dragon King resides. You can think of it as a kind of seal."
"With every increase in your strength, you'll be able to wield more of Xiao Huo's power."
"The stronger you get, the stronger you become!"
Xiao Yan murmured, "The Ice Dragon King used his dragon soul to forge my First Soul Ring for me, for Xiao Huo."
"My first God-Level Soul Ring!"
His very first Soul Ring was a God-Level Soul Ring.
What did that even mean!?
The platinum-gold Soul Ring revolved, imbued with sacred power and a bone-deep chill.
Even though Xiao Yan was a fire-attribute Soul Master, he now felt that he could wield Ultimate Ice!
"Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Ice appearing in the same Soul Master!?"
Even Xiao Yan himself could hardly believe it.
This was a karma as vast as the heavens.
He had received the Ice Dragon King's blessing, so naturally he had to repay him!
"There's no time like the present. Let's fuse with the Heavenly Flame right now!" Xiao Yan said solemnly, carrying out his earlier agreement with Xiao Huo.
He would house the Heavenly Flame in his Soul Ring!
The Soul Ring created by the Ice Dragon King would hold the Heavenly Flame of the former Fire Dragon King!
Xiao Yan and Xiao Huo sat down on the ground.
He released his Martial Soul, Ultimate Fire, to its fullest.
Within that supremely powerful fire-attribute Martial Soul, a blue figure now appeared.
It was an enormous ice dragon!
It roared at heaven and earth, as if bellowing in rage!
An immensely powerful chill and scorching heat erupted at the same time, making even Xiao Huo's heart tremble.
"I revived as a Heavenly Flame, and my strength is no longer what it once was. But Ice never cut down his own cultivation and held on until now. Even after his dragon soul became a Soul Ring, he still retained tremendous strength."
A multicolored beam burst from between Xiao Yan's brows.
A strange sensation connected the two of them.
"Relax your mind. This is the power of the Flame Mantra!"
"Why do you keep going hot and cold?"
"I haven't even complained about you being like a lump of burning coal."
The fusion continued.
A long time later, Xiao Huo suddenly began to boil.
Her entire body transformed into a flame and slipped into Xiao Yan's First Soul Ring!
Hum!
Almost at that very instant, Xiao Yan's eyes changed.
One red, one blue.
His mismatched eyes held two utterly opposed, powerful forces that filled his entire body.
Xiao Yan raised a hand slightly, sensing the power hidden within him.
His every movement seemed to carry boundless flame and chill.
"Whew..."
Xiao Yan let out a long breath.
The heat turned to steam, then froze into icy crystals.
"I reckon my Soul Power has already reached level twenty-five. As for my actual combat strength, I should be able to defeat even a weaker Soul Ancestor, right!?"
Xiao Yan sensed the changes in his body.
He had grown a full fifty centimeters, changing from a child into a true youth.
Yet he was still less than nine years old!
"This is what a fucking eight-year-old looks like!?" Looking at his reflection in the water, even Xiao Yan could hardly believe it.
Suddenly,
his First Soul Ring activated on its own.
As Xiao Yan watched, dumbfounded,
a fiery red figure stepped out beneath the platinum-gold light.
It was Xiao Huo.
"You can actually use my Soul Ring!?"
"Of course!" Xiao Huo said matter-of-factly.
The corner of Xiao Yan's mouth twitched as he tried to communicate with his First Soul Ring.
No problem!
So that meant...
not only could he release his First Soul Ring himself from now on, but Xiao Huo could even release it too!?
"First Soul Skill: Ice and Fire from the Same Source!"
A two-colored flame appeared, dancing at Xiao Yan's fingertip.
It transformed into a red-and-blue lotus.
With a thought from Xiao Yan,
the Heavenly Flame lotus shot out and slammed into the distant stone wall.
Boom!
Scorching heat and icy cold exploded at once.
A powerful force far beyond Xiao Yan's level erupted.
Its power made even Xiao Yan's heart pound.
"So powerful..."
Xiao Huo nodded and said, "The First Soul Skill only strengthens the flame and adds the ability of Ultimate Ice. How exactly you control and use the fire still depends on how well you've mastered your Martial Soul."
Xiao Yan nodded in agreement.
At the same time, he was very curious and asked, "What exactly was your relationship with the Ice Dragon King before!?"
A trace of desolation appeared on Xiao Huo's face. "We were two of the dragon's nine children, so naturally we were brother and sister."
Whew.
"I thought you were husband and wife," Xiao Yan said, a little wistfully.
Xiao Huo immediately shot him a murderous look.
"We should leave. Without our support, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring will also come to an end and become an ordinary place."
Xiao Huo turned into a fiery streak and vanished between Xiao Yan's brows.
Xiao Yan murmured, "Right, it's time to save Old Yu."
"Now I have several kinds of Heavenly Flames, and I've even cultivated the Flame Mantra. Maybe I can cure Old Yu without relying on those heavenly treasures!?"
Xiao Yan started back.
In just a few minutes, he emerged at the volcanic crater.
As soon as he appeared, he noticed something amiss.
An aged figure lay in the distance. It was none other than Yu Tianming.
At the same time, the surroundings were bitterly cold.
A sinister, chilling gaze swept over him.
A dark green figure appeared at the crater.
Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Are you that little child from before!?"
(I've been too busy over the New Year. I'm correcting the typos, plot, levels, strength, comparisons between ranks, and so on. Feel free to point anything out.)
(You can curse me too, just leave my family out of it. Thanks...)
(End of chapter)